
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and 80
lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9
in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.
Fig. 167 Rear seat: child p roper ly restrained in a booster
seat
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these ch ildren up so
that the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety belt
can help protect them in a crash.
.,. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain
a chi ld on a booster seat .
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the cen
ter of the child's collar bone as possible and must lie flat and snug on the upper body. It
must never lie across the throat or neck. The
lap belt must lie across the pelvis and never
across the stomach or abdomen. Make sure the
belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tight
en if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older chi ld in a boos
ter seat on the front passenger seat, you can
use the safety belt height adjustment to help
adjust the shoulder portion properly .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r:=>page 177.
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs or
18 kg) are best protected in chi ld safety seats de-
~ signed for their age and we ight. Experts say that ....
~ the skeletal structure, part icularly the pelvis, of N
8 these children is not fully developed, and they 0 <.,;) 'SI'
Child safety
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
suitable child restraint.
It is usually best to put these children in appro
priate booster seats. Be sure the booster seat
meets all applicab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass across
the child's body in the right places. The routing of
the be lt over the chi ld's body is very important
for the ch ild's protection, whether or not a boos
ter seat is used. Children age 12 and under must
always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/
1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle's
three point lap and shoulder belts . Never use the
lap belt portion of the vehicle's safety belt a lone
to restrain any ch ild, regard less of how big the
ch ild is. Always remember that child ren do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap be lt portion of the ve
hicle's three point lap and shoulder belts. The
child's safety absolutely requires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snug ly and
as low as possible around the pe lvis. Never let
the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over
the child's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink of
an eye and with considerab le force. In order to do
its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
will be there to protect the occupant as the occu
pant moves forward into the airbag .
A vehicle occ upant who is out of position and too
close to the a irbag gets in the way of an inflating
airbag. When an occupant is too close , he or she
will be struck violently and w ill receive serious or
possibly even fata l injury .
In order for the airbag to offer protect ion, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children , who must be in the front seat be
cause of exceptiona l circumstances, be properly
restrained and as far away from t he airbag as
poss ible. By keeping room between the child's ..,_
181

Child safety
body and the front of the passenger compart
ment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro
vide supplemental protection in certain frontal
collisions.
.,&. WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the booster
seat improperly, incorrectly installing a boos
ter seat or using the vehicle safety belt im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death in a collision or other emer
gency situation. To help reduce the risk of se
rious personal injury and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body.
It must never lie across the throat or
neck. The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make sure that the belt lies flat and snug.
Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- Failure to properly route safety belts over a
child's body will cause severe injuries in an
accident or other emergency situation
¢ page 139.
-The rear side of the child safety seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat .
- For adjustable head restraints: adjust or re
move the rear seat head restraint if it is dif
ficult to install the child seat with the head
restraint in place
¢ page 52. Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving without head
restraints or with head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Never let a child put the shoulder belt under
the arm or behind the back, because it could
cause severe injuries in a crash.
- Children on the front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously in
jured or even killed when an airbag inflates .
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any seat,
for example the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
182
- Always remember that a child leaning for
ward, sitting sideways or out of position in
any way during an accident can be struck by
a deploying airbag . This will result in serious
personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of exceptional
circumstances the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light must come on and stay on, when
ever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described ¢
page 159, Monitoring
the Advanced Airbag System .
-Take the child restraint off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used¢
page 139, Safety belts,
¢ page 147, Airbag system and
¢ page 171, Important information.
Securing child seats
Securing a child safety seat using a safety
belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front pas
senger con be locked with the convertible locking
retractor to properly secure child safety seats.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors for
the rear seats safety belts and for the front pas
senger's seat safety belt have a convertible lock
ing retractor for child restraints. The safety belt
must be locked so that belt webbing cannot un
reel. The retractor can be activated to lock the
safety belt and prevent the safety belt webbing
from loosening up during normal driving . A child
safety seat can only be properly installed when
the safety belt is locked so that the child and
child safety seat will stay in place.
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and younger, .,.

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A WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in a collision.
-Always make sure that the safety belt re tractor is locked when installing a child safety seat. An unlocked safety belt retrac
tor cannot hold the child safety seat in place
dur ing normal driving or in a crash .
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it . A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat back
rest to wh ich the center rea r safety be lt* is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear cente r safety belt is being used to se
cure a chi ld restraint.
- If the backrest is not securely latched, the
child and the child restraint will be thrown
forward together with the backrest and will
strike parts of the vehicle interior . The chi ld
can be seriously injured or killed.
- Never install rear-facing chi ld safety seats
or infant carriers on the front passenger
seat. A child will be serious ly injured and
can be killed when the passenger airbag in
flates.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the ch ild safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety seats
or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward -facing ch ild safety seats or infant
carriers installed on the front passenger 's
seat may inte rfere with the deployment of
the a irbag and cause serious injury to the
child.
- It is safer to install a forward-fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a veh icle is
being used
r:::> page 171 . Specia l precaut ions
Ch ild safety
apply when install ing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat
r:::> page 148, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know .
A WARNING
Always take special precautions if you must
i nstall a forward or rearward-facing child re
stra int on the front passenger's seat in excep
tional s ituations:
- Whenever a forward or rearward-fac ing
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on .
- I f the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, perform the
checks described
r:::> poge 159, Monitoring
the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child restraint off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the
PAS SENGER AIR
BAG O FF
light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
-Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the child.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carr ier.
- After checking to make sure that the child
restraint is properly installed, make certain
that the child restraint is correctly recog
n ized by the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the front passenger seat and that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light signals
the correct front passenger frontal airbag
stat us.
A WARNING
Forwa rd -facing child restraints :
-
183

Child safety
-Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up, against or very near the instrument pan
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air
bag as possible, before installing the for
ward-facing child restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly posi
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
-Always be especially careful if you must in
stall a rearward facing child safety seat on
the front passenger seat in exceptional cir
cumstances.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in
stall the rear-facing child safety seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
184 ·
Activating the convertible locking retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to secure a
child restraint.
Always heed the child safety seat manufacturer's
instructions when installing a child restraint in
your vehicle. To activate the convertible locking retractor:
.. Place the child restraint on a seat, preferably
on the rear seat.
.. Slowly pull the belt
all the way out.
.. Route it around or through the child restraint
belt path
~ ,&. .
.. Push the child safety seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt really tight.
.. Insert the belt tongue into the buckle for that
seating position.
.. Guide the safety belt back into the retractor un
til the belt lies flat and snug on the child safety
seat.
.. You should hear a "clicking" noise as the belt
winds back into the inertia reel. Test the con
vertible locking retractor by pulling on the belt.
You should no longer be able to pull the belt
out of the retractor. The convertible locking re
tractor is now activated.
.. Make sure that the red release button is facing
away from the child restraint so that it can be
unbuckled quickly.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure the safety belt is
properly tight and fastened so that the seat
cannot move forward or sideways more than
one inch (2 .5 cm) .
A WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an improp
erly installed child restraint can cause serious
personal injury or death in a crash.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt retrac
tor cannot hold the child safety seat in place
during normal driving or in a crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it. A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a crash.
IIJJ,-

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the child restraint is installed is in an up
right position and securely latched into
place and cannot fold forward. Otherwise,
the seatback with the child safety seat at
tached to it could f ly forward in the event of
an accident or other emergency situation.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a veh icle is
being used¢
page 171. Specia l precaut ions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 148, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re
straints will be deactivated automatically when
the belt is wound all the way back into the re
tractor .
~ Press the red button on the safety belt buckle.
The belt tongue will pop out of the buckle.
~ Guide the safety belt all the way back into its
stowed position .
Always let the safety belt retract completely into
its stowed position. The safety belt can now be
used as an ordinary safety belt without the con
vertible locking retractor for child restraints.
If the convertible locking retractor should be ac
tivated inadvertently, the safety belt must be un
fastened and guided completely back into its
stowed position to deact ivate this feature. If the
convert ible locking retractor is not deactivated,
the safety belt w ill gradually become tighter and
uncomfortable to wear.
_& WARNING
-
Improperly installed chi ld safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deactivate
the convertible locking retractor for child re
straints while the vehicle is moving . You
Child safety
would not be restrained and could be seri
ously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used
¢page 171. Special precautions
apply when install ing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 148, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
LATCH system (lower
anchorages and tethers
for children)
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
To provide a simpler and more practicab le way to
attach the child restraint on the vehicle seat,
Federal regulations require special lower ancho
rages in vehicles and devices on new child re
straints to attach to the vehicle anchorages .
In the United States, the combination of the
tether anchorages and the lower anchorages is
now generally called the LATCH system for
"Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Children". In
Canada, the terms "top tether" with "lower uni
versa l anchorages" (or "lower universal anchor
age bars") are used to descr ibe the system .
In other countries the term "ISOFIX" is used to
describe the lower anchorages .
Forward-facing child restraints manufactured af
ter September 1, 1999 , are required by U.S. fed
eral regulations to comply with new child head
movement performance req uirements. These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new ch ild seats.
Installing a child restraint that requires a top
tethe r without one can seriously impair the per
formance of the child restraint and its ab ility to
protect the child in a collision. Installing a child
restra int that requi res a top tether without the
top tether may be a violation of state law.
Child restraint manufacturers offer LATCH lower
anchorages on their child seats w ith hook-on or ..,.
185

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points are only intended for installation and at
tachment of child restraints specifically cert ified
for use with
LATCH lower anchorages. Child re
straints that are not equipped with the lower an
chorage attachments can still be installed in
compliance w ith the child restra int manufactur
er 's instructions on using vehicle safety belts .
.8, WARNING
Improper use of LATCH lower anchorages can
cause serious personal injury in an accident.
- Always caref ully follow the child restra ints
man ufactu rer's inst ructions for proper in
sta llation of the child restr aint and proper
u se of the lower anchorages or safety be lts
in your vehicle.
- Never secure or attach any luggage or other
items to the
LATCH lower anchorages.
- Always read and heed t he important infor
mation about child restraints in this chapter
and WARNINGS
~ page 171, Child safety .
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always fol
low the child restraint manufacturer's instruc
tions.
F ig . 171 Lower anchorages: proper mount ing
Mounting
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in the upr ight position and sec urely latched
i n place .
.. Attach both hook-on connectors with the spring
catch re lease on the ch ild safety seat onto the
Ch ild safety
LATCH lower anchorage so that the connectors
lock into p lace
¢ fig. 171.
.. Pull on the connector attachments to make
sure they are properly attached to the LATCH
lower anchorage.
.. Pull straps tight following the ch ild restraint
manufacturer 's instructions .
Relea sing
.. Loosen the tension on the straps fo llow ing the
child restra int manufacturer's instructions.
.. Depress the spr ing catches to release the an
chorage hooks from the lower anchorages .
Remember: Use tether straps to help keep the
child restraint firmly in p lace.
.8, WARNING "---Imp roper use of the LATCH system can in
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in an accident.
- These anchors were developed only for child safety seats using the "LATCH" system.
- Never attach other ch ild safety seats, belts
or other objects to these anchors.
- Always make sure that you hear a click when
latching the seat in place. If you do not hear
a click the seat is not sec ure and co uld f ly
forward and hit the inter io r of the vehicle,
or be ejected from the vehicle .
.8, WARNING
I mp roper installation of child restra ints w ill
i n cr ease the risk of inju ry in an a ccident.
- Always follow the ch ild restraint system
manufac ture r's ins tructions fo r prope r in
s tallat ion of the ch ild restrain t system and
proper use of tether straps as well as the
lower anchorages or safety belts in yo ur ve
h icle.
- Always read and heed the important infor
matio n and WARNINGS about ch ild safety
and the installat ion of child restraint sys
tems
¢ page 171, Child safety .
-
187

Checking and Filling
These fuel s contain substances that can se
verely damage the fue l system and the en
gine if the engine is started .
Refueling
Fuel filler neck
The fuel fille r neck is located on the r ight rear
side pane l beh ind the f uel fi ller flap.
If the power locking system should fail , you can
still open the flap manua lly - for deta iled instruc
tions see~
page 194 .
You can find the fuel tank capac ity of your vehicle
i n
~ page 257 .
The label on the inside of the fuel filler flap tells
you the correc t fuel for your vehicle . For more in
formation about fue l specifications , see
~ page 190 .
Your veh icle fuel t ank has an onboard refuelling
vapor recovery sys tem . This fea tu re he lps to pre
vent fuel vapors from escaping from the tank and pollut ing the env ironment while you refuel your
ve hicle. In order to fill the tank prope rly while
p rotecting the environment, please fo llow this
re fueling proce dure caref ully.
8_ WARNING
Under no rmal o perating conditions, never car
ry additiona l fuel containers in yo ur car. Gas
canisters and ot her containers used to trans
port fuel can be dangerous . Such containers,
full or empty, may leak and could cause a fire
in a collision . If yo u must t ransport fue l to
use for yo ur lawn mower, snow blower, etc.,
be
very careful and a lways observe loca l and
s tate laws regar ding t he use, transportation
a nd sto rage of s uch fue l conta iners. Make ce r
t ain the con tainer mee ts in dust ry sta ndards
(A NSI/AS TM F8S 2 - 86) .
(D Note
Never d rive yo ur vehicle unt il t he fuel tan k is
c ompletely empty . T he irregu lar sup ply of
fue l can ca use m isfiri ng. Gasoline cou ld enter
t he exha ust system and damage the catalytic
converter.
192
Fueling procedure
Fi g. 17 4 R ig ht rea r side o f th e ve hicle: ope ning t he fuel
fi ll er door
Fig . 1 75 Fue l fill er doo r w it h at tac hed fu el cap
The fue l filler doo r is u nlocked or locked by the
central locking system .
Opening the fuel cap
" Press on the left side of the fue l filler door to
open
~ fig . 174.
"Unscrew the tank cap co unterclo ckwise .
" Place the cap from
above on the open f uel f iller
door
~ fig. 175 .
Closing the fuel cap
" Scr ew the tank cap on to the right on the filler
neck unt il it ca nnot turn any fart her .
" Then press on the left s ide of the t an k door un-
til it latches.
Once the pump no zzle switches off , t he fuel ta nk
i s "full ". Do not fill the tank mo re . O therwise the
expans io n sp ace in the tan k w ill be filled.
The co rrect fuel type for your vehicle can be
fo und o n a label located on the inside of the f uel
fille r door . Fo r addi tional informat io n on fuel,
see
~ page 190 .

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the
Tech nical D ata s e ction ¢ page 257.
To avoid fuel spill ing or evaporating from the f uel
tank always close fuel cap p roperly and com
p letely. An improperly closed fue l filler cap may
also cause the MIL lamp
r:!> pag e 25 to come on.
A WARNING
Not paying attention when fueling or han
dling fuel incorrectly can lead to fires, exp lo
sions or serious in juries.
- Fuel ignites easily and can cause serious burns and other injuries .
- If you do not switch the eng ine off when fu
eling and/or do not insert the fuel no zzle
completely into the tank opening, fue l can
leak out or run over . Leaked fuel can ignite
and start a fire .
- Do no t use the telephone while fueling. The
electromagnet ic rays can cause sparks,
wh ich can ignite fuel vapors and start a fire .
- Do not s it in your vehicle while fueling . If
you must make an except ion and enter your
vehicle again wh ile fue ling , close the door
and touch meta l to discha rge static electric
ity befo re touching the fue l nozzle . Static
electricity can create spar ks, wh ich can ig
ni te vapors when fue ling.
- Do not smoke or have an open flame i n the
area when fueling your vehicle or filling a
fuel container because this increases the
risk of a n explosion .
- For your safety , carrying fuel containers in
your vehicle is not recommended . Whether
full or empty, the container can leak and cause a fire in the event of an accident.
- If you must make an exception and trans
port a fuel container, note the following:
- Never fill the fuel containe r with fuel
while it is in or on the vehicle. Stat ic elec
tr icity is d ischa rged when filling wh ich can
cause the f uel vapors to ignite and in
creases the risk of an explos ion .
- Always p lace a fuel containe r on the
g round before fi lling .
- Always ho ld the fuel no zzle comp letely in
the fuel container when filling.
Ch eck ing and Filling
-If the fuel container is made of metal, the
fuel nozzle must always be in contact with
the container when filling it with fuel. This prevents stat ic electricity from discharg
ing .
- Never spill fue l in the vehicle or the lug
gage compartment. Evaporated fuel is ex
plosive and increases the risk of serious in
ju ry or death .
- Follow legal req uirements when using,
stor ing and transporti ng fuel containers.
- Make sure the fuel container conforms to
industry standards (ANSI/ASTM F852-86).
CD Note
- Remove spilled fuel from vehicle pa int im
mediately , because it can damage paint.
- Never drive unt il the fuel tank is complete ly
empty. The irregular supply of fue l that re
sults from that can cause eng ine misfires .
Uncombusted fuel will enter t he exhaust
system and increase the risk of damage to
the catalyti c converter .
CD Note
Applies to: vehicles with diesel engines
If the f uel tank ru ns completely empty, the
i gni tion must remain sw itched on for a t least
30 seco nds after refueling before sta rting the
engine . It may take longer than usua l for the
engine to start, even up to a minute. This is
because the air must first bleed out of the
fuel system when start ing the engine .
@ For the sake of the environment
Do not overfill the fuel tank, otherwise fuel
can leak out when the veh icle is warming up.
(D Tips
The fuel filler door on your vehicle does not l ock if you lock the ve hicle from the ins ide.
(D Tips
Applies to: vehicles with diesel e ngin es
Diesel veh icles are equipped w ith a misfueling
guard
l )_ It a llows the vehicle to be fueled on-
l y w ith a diesel fuel p ump nozzle .
IJJ,,
193